At one point the mania spurred to words the normally tight-lipped George McPhee. On December 30th, before the Capitals took on Buffalo, McPhee weighed in on the issue, telling the Washington Post,”[Evgeny] needs to play in a better league. Sometimes when you’re not playing at the highest level you can develop bad habits. We don’t want that stuff to become engrained — so get him to the best league you can and get working with him.”

Totally. And we’re not quite done with the opining yet. In a wide-ranging interview with Sportsbox.ru, Hockey Hall of Famer and father of totalbabesIgor Larionov spoke about corruption in the Russian government, the Eurocup soccer tournament, the World Championships, and — of course — Evgeny Kuznetsov’s new deal to stay in the KHL.

“It’s his decision,” Larionov began. “I think he has people who give him advice. But my opinion is: he made a mistake.”

Larionov, who won three Stanley Cup championships with the Detroit Red Wings (1997, 1998, 2002) and is considered one of the greatest passers of all-time, spent half of his career in Russia and half of it in North America.

“[Kuznetsov] can grow in North America because hockey there is more demanding, a player’s formation happens much faster than here,” Larionov continued. “It’s very competitive and you have to battle in every single game. You don’t see that in Russia. You can argue with me here, but I’m saying so because I can compare.”